Trumpeter Calms Passengers on Wave-Stricken Ferry

When a 20-foot wave overtook a ferry ship traveling to Boston yesterday, a 22-year-old musician did what he does best to calm his fellow passengers.

He pulled out his trumpet and started playing.

“The first thing that went through my mind was actually the Titanic,” the passenger, Ariel Shrom, told ABC News. “Everyone’s freaking out as the water starts to pour in.”

“People around me became sea sick and I started playing my trumpet,” said Shrom, who was returning home to Boston.

Cell phone video taken by one of the 42 passengers aboard the Provincetown IV ship shows Shrom playing his trumpet while wearing an orange life vest, a layer of safety worn by all the passengers after the ship was hit by a 20-foot wave.

The giant wave’s impact, hitting the ship at around 4 p.m. Wednesday, knocked out two of the windows in the captain’s pilot house, which then disabled the ferry’s operating system, according to ABC affiliate WCVB.

The U.S. Coast Guard sent two boats to assist the ferry but the ship’s generator was restored in time to make its way back to Boston by evening.

The ship’s captain suffered cuts to his hand but no other injuries were reported.

“It was insane,” said one passenger. “At some point I thought I was really going to die.”